Tag Archives: Tactics

A Baseline Out of Bounds situation can be very challenging to defend and one strategy to limit the options available to an offensive team is to employ a Zone Defence. A zone defence brings a number of positives to a team’s defensive orientation in the half court. Some of these benefits can carry over to out-of-bounds scenarios. The effectiveness however of a zone defence is underpinned, like all defences, on the team’s ability to implement the defensive principles to their most effective end. Without every player on the floor participating and playing their part, a zone defence will still be ineffective just as much as any other defence.

Simplicity

Either in a Zone Defence or Man-to-Man; The player guarding the inbounder should position themselves so they are in between the passer the basket. By doing this they make a lob our pass into the keyway harder to execute (Photo Source: Jeramey Jannene)

For defensive sides struggling to maintain good spacing and marking during an inbounding situation a zone defence can be a good alternative. Because a zone defence allocates certain positions on the court as well as giving very specific roles to each player. Each individual is more likely able to perform their expected role to a higher level of competence. The free-flowing nature of man-to-man defence can sometimes confuse players especially against tactical elements like screen the screener and players screening to get free. Utilising a zone defence takes away some of this uncertainty against a baseline situation and plants defenders into specific roles.

Less Moving Parts

A zone defence by its nature as described above has less movement because defensive players are reacting to activity in their area, not just simply the individual player movement of whom they are matched up against. Less movement by individual defenders should see an improvement in vision (provided players are still maintaining lines of sight), reaction time (provided players are in a ready stance) and decision-making. If this is not the case, and a team’s zone defence is still ineffective against a baseline play. It might be time to focus on individual defensive awareness and technique.

Less movement does not equal not being defensively aware. Zone defenders still need to be accountable to knowing where the shooters are and other key players respective to their areas of responsibility on the court.

Condenses Defenders

A reduction in the space between defenders is also another benefit of implementing a zone defence against a baseline out-of-bounds play. Baseline plays nearly always have a theme of creating a shooting opportunity if the X’s and O’s play out right. For a majority of these players the primary and secondary scoring options happen around or in the keyway. Employing a zone defence brings players into the keyway and floods this area of the court with bodies. Provided players look to shut down passing lanes by being active in defence they should be able to reduce the margin for an opportunity to occur.

One of the constant problems with this line of thinking concerning a zone defence is that individual defenders still need to be active. Too many times a team switches to a zone defence, and then the individuals fail to remain active and disciplined in employing defensive principles. Using a zone defence is not about resting individuals, it is just a different tactic.

Rebounding

Player’s proximity to the basket will decrease in a zone defence. This must be seen as an advantage for players to initiate and establish defensive positioning when rebounding. Again, this is reliant on players taking up this advantage and not seeing it is a fore gone conclusion that because they are closer to the basket they are entitled to the ball.

A zone defence can be very effective against a particularly potent offense generated when inbounding from the baseline. The zone defence can also be used as a way of bluffing a team into setting up in their zone offense before changing to man-to-man. This can be a useful strategy during an inbound to help players match-up and slow the tempo at which the offense is running.

The Full Court Press is one of the very special defences a team can utilise to play attacking basketball without being in possession of the ball. The Full Court Press can provide a number of positives for a team such as scoring in runs and decreasing an opponent’s lead quickly. If performed poorly however a Full Court Press can become an Achilles Heel for a team resulting in easy scoring opportunities. One of the more common sighted indications of a struggling or poor Full Court Press is the ability for the offense to break the trap and make lay-ups.

Scoring Happens

An offense scoring against a Full Court Press will happen. This does not mean the Press is not working or ineffective. It just means the defence needs to be evaluated and improved within the context of the games play (Photo Source: dannybollinger).

No defence in the modern game of basketball can be a solution to all the problems a team is likely to face from an ever expanding range of offenses. Look through the countless resources available around developing an offensive system and there is literally millions of articles, books, philosophies and tweaks developed every year. Not only at the elite level but also from the humble coach within the school gym refining their coaching craft.

To meet this offensive onslaught, defences will also need to develop and adapt. A weakness however is all about perspective, and with regards to a Full Court Press this is really about what a coach is willing to give an offense in exchange for taking away other opportunities. For a Full Court Press the balance of risk and reward is focused around defensive pressure extending into the full court. Every inch of the court becomes an opportunity to a deflection, steal and backcourt or shot clock violation. The risk is that an offense may break the Full Court Press and make lay-ups or quick scoring opportunities. How this is evaluated within a game is for the coach to analysis, but just because an offense makes a lay-up does not mean the defence is broken. No defence is successful a hundred percent of the time, in fact, many coaches would be happy with a lot less.

No Uncontested Lay-ups

When looking at the possible outcomes from a broken Full Court Press one of the results can be a lay-up. This however, is very different to an uncontested shot. Just because a lay-up is the final shot does not mean it should be uncontested. Defenders when behind the ball should be drilled to recover in a specific way so to limit the possible chances of an easy scoring opportunity. Scrambling defensive transition is still part of the game, even when employing a Full Court Press.

Part of the implementation of a Full Court Press is for players and coaches to understand how to react to when the Full Court Press in broken. Where should each player move to and what should they be looking for. As this understanding and additional increased commitment to recovering in transition is implemented, over time the number of lay-ups should start to decrease even in broken trap situations. While a shot may not be stopped, the further away from the basket it is taken the less successful it becomes. So turning a lay-up into a mid-range jump shot can have a significant effect on an oppositions completions against the press.

Fast Break

One of the more common phenomenon that happens as a result of a lay-up is both the defence and offense tend to stall. The defence becomes deflated from the points being scored and therefore the trap being broken. While the offense feels, they have survived a very challenging situation and react by taking a breath.

A Lay-up for the defence should signal the opportunity for a Fast Break or explosive Primary Transition against the fully extended offense. Offensive players can be very slow in changing from offense to defence especially when facing a Full Court Press. This should be exploited often so even if the offense expends effort to break the trap, they then have to turn and sprint the stop a basket at the opposite end of the floor. This a key to attacking basketball and the mindset behind an effective press.

Fatigue

One warning sign related to lay-ups against a Full Court Press is fatigue. A defensive team and coach need to be very vigilant concerning the exposure of a team to too high an energy commitment when using a Full Court Press. If lay-ups are the result of the players running on empty there either needs to be a rotation of fresh players or a change in the defensive strategy being employed.

If looking to use a Full Court Press then a team needs to practice under fatigued conditions so the likelihood of poor performance as a result can be gradually reduced. Through training and development of greater stamina a team’s Full Court Press will improve and the ability to convert more points from this tactic will increase.

The Full Court Press has always been a very solid tactic due to the challenge in presents to players with the ball about what they can do and what their teammates must do. Forcing offensive players to make reads and choices leads to problems if the individuals are not well drilled. Lay-ups though should not be the only measure a coach is concerned with. Think about a Full Court Press in the context of the game, is it really being exploited any more regularly than your other defensive options?

If ever Trapped a player must maintain composure and vision to see the options available (Photo Source: USAG- Humphreys)

Being Trapped can be one of the more troubling experiences a ball handler can have in the game of basketball. If trapped effectively the dribbler will only have a few moments from the initial trapping situation starting, to when they are fully contained by the defenders.

There are a some key points every coach should be discussing with their players about dealing with a situation in which they can become trapped.

Pause before Dribbling

Offensive players in their eagerness to move the ball quickly from one end of the floor to the other often catch and go into a run straight away. In looking to avoid being trapped catching on the run and moving straight into a dribbling situation can actually just make the defences job a lot easier.

The outlet should look to catch and pivot towards the frontcourt before moving. This will allow for greater vision and awareness of where the gaps and seams are in the trapping defence so they can then move to exploit these opportunities.

As players become more aware of the space around them this tactic might be less and less valuable, but initially stopping to assess the situation for many ball handlers improves decision making (even if it does slow the play).

A common issue when pausing is that players can tend to turn away from the frontcourt. This will need to be an aspect of pivoting a coach will need to work against. Pivoting away from the frontcourt only serves to limit the options of the ball handler in dribbling and passing.

Utilise the Pass Fake

Most players will have heard the mantra “Fake a Pass, to make a Pass”. Like most things, the simplest actions often provide the best results and it does not matter if you are in the full court or the half court the Pass Fake is effective (before or after the dribble).

There is not secret to using the Pass Fake, but with practice, it will become a great tool when used wisely.

Keep the Dribble Alive

A common reaction to a trapping situation is for the dribbler to pick the ball up in an attempt to quicken the possibility of making a pass. This is really common and something many players struggle with even at the elite or senior levels of the sport of basketball.

To overcome this reaction players just need to be drilled in basic skills such as the reverse dribble which will help the player to maintain distance between themselves and the defenders involved in the trap. This skill will need to be practiced in game like situations to have full effect, so the player does not back themselves into a corner only to become trapped in a smaller area of the court.

By looking to create space between the defenders and the ball, this will force the defenders to move if they wish to create a trap. A moving defender is an easier defender to beat off the dribble as they must always look to establish a legal guarding position prior to initiating any contact.

Look and See what Opportunities the Trap is Presenting

Every coach who has ever run a press will understand that there are areas that they do not want the ball to go. There are two defenders involved in the trapping situation. One player will often try to defend a sideline, while the other will try to defend the middle of the court. Both players are trying to avoid being split.

For the dribbler when looking at the trap there are three options to break this tactic down by themselves:

Dribble middle; if the middle defender move below the line of the ball

Split the defenders (heading in between them); if there is a wide gap between the defenders of more than a defensive slide each to deny this position

Dribble to the sideline; if the defender moves past the line of the outside shoulder or if there is a gap between the sideline defender and the sideline of more than two defensive slides

Develop Competence with a range of Passes

A good trapping defence will look to minimise opportunities for re-occurring breakdowns. Tactics will be changed, player positions or responsibilities altered. This means the ball handler must be display a range of skills in order to be flexible in dealing with a changing trapping defence or just different teams running a similar defence.

One set of skills which can assist in breaking a trapping defence is the use of different passing techniques. Some passes will be more effective in moving the ball in close spaces such as a Push or Bounce Pass. While others will be useful over greater distances such as an Overhead or Baseball Pass. Having competence within these basic skills will assist in executing the right decision when it is taken.

Being trapped is not a comfortable experience for players. It can feel as though they are letting the team down especially if the ball is constantly being turned over. This compounds the problem and players can become timid and start forcing passes that they otherwise would not normally take for fear of being trapped with the ball. Outlining the decisions which need to be made when involved in a trapping situation can sometimes draw attention to opportunities a player might not be aware of. Then practice, practice and practice some more…

When implementing a Full Court Press, after the initial stages of how the trapping action happens attention should then shift to the options for a Secondary Trap. The Secondary Trap is the name given to those options for another trap to form after the first has broken down or been released. A team that discusses the secondary trap and works to perfect this action is a team that is twice as hard to beat. A secondary trap can be executed in the full court, half court or quarter court depending on a team’s defensive strategy.

Thinking about a secondary trap is not necessarily discussing what happens when a press breaks down. Just because the ball is moved out of the initial trapping situation does not mean that the defence has failed. In some instances, the secondary trap might be the intended phase within a trapping defence that a team wants so they can pressure the ball more aggressively when possession is in certain players hands. For example, when facing a team that has a capable Point Guard, but very weak supporting ball handlers. The initial trapping situation might be used to move the ball out of the Point Guards hands and then apply extreme pressure the next receiver.

In the full court, the use of the secondary trap is all about using the court effectively. Making every inch of the floor valuable and a challenge for opposition teams to win. If a defensive team is not going to use a secondary trap, then maybe a half-court trap is a better option as this will not stretch the defence as much and also limit the focus to one trapping phase (which is often the focus of half court traps) can be more effective.

When supplementary trapping situations are focused upon within a team’s full court defence there can be opportunities explored even as the ball is advanced deep down the court to the basket. As mentioned previously there is no reason that up to three trapping areas cannot be explored and drilled by a team. These areas are marked in the Diagram below as Areas 1, 2 and 3.

Trapping Areas Diagram 1: A Secondary Trap can happen in the same area as the initial trap. So teams must drill different rotations to ensure they can deal with all strategies that different offense may present

Alternatively, a different approach can be taken and in different areas of the court, different trapping strategies are applied so an opposition’s offense is unable to become comfortable with the tactics they are facing. For example in Area 1, a team may not want to trap, but simply slow the progress of the ball and stall an effective opposition’s transition offense. In Area 2 a team might decide Hedge and Recover so to the offense the trap looks like it is about to happen and so the ball is continued to be rotated away from the key ball handlers and into the weaker decision makers hands within the group before trapping aggressively in Area 3.

If facing a team with a very effective Press Breaker one option is to reduce the press formation to the ¾ court. Then not trap in Areas 1 or 2. This will space the offense out and condense the defence . Then providing all defenders are active a secondary trap can be triggered in Area 3. If executed well, many off the offensive players can be still in the back court when the trap happens and not able to initially take part as a pressure release target for the ball handler.

All of the examples above make the secondary trap a very useful strategy in not only providing depth to a team’s defence, but also being flexible in tactics to compete an ultimately win a game. A good secondary trap is a trap that exposes a team, a does just not focus on the key ball handler of the opposition. When that happens a defence is starting ask questions of players who do not normally make decision at pace, on the dribble or in traffic and that can only be a good thing for the defence.

A coach will always have to make choices about a Starting Line-up for a number of different reasons. Sometimes a player will be performing exceptionally well in the team’s training sessions. Sometimes a player who is coming off the bench in games will start to put up better numbers or provide a service that is outshining the existing starter. Whatever the reason, no matter what the philosophy in place, it is important for a coach to have flexibility in their starting line-up so they can be dynamic and aggressive in their tactical practice.

For this to happen though a coach must first set an outline about changing the starting line-up to meet the immediate technical or tactical needs of the team. The situation a team finds itself within will change from week to week in regards to the opposition they face and therefore what strategies will be put in place. A coach should make it known to players well ahead of the first game about this policy and the different situations under which a rotation might be made.

So what are some of the strategic reasons a coach might look to change their starting line-up?

If a change to the starting line-up is not working it is important to make a correction as soon as possible and not compound the problem (Photo Source: Klearchos Kapoutsis)

One reason for a strategic change to the starting line-up is that an offensive or defensive match-up can be exploited. For example, a coach might feel like there is an advantage to be exploited in regards to a different match-up between a different player on the team and the opposition. When thinking about players to be shifted into a different role it is important to look at all the ramifications. If a player is being placed into the starting line-up because of their defensive ability, how will this affect the offensive end of the floor? Do different plays need to be run? Do the playing positions need to be changed between offense and defence so the player does not hinder the offensive production? These questions need to be thought about before making a change.

Another reason for a starting line-up change can be to balance or increase the offensive production of a team in back end of a quarter. Sometimes a team can find themselves in a situation where there is a clear weakness within the possible rotations. This can sometimes result in the offense stalling when players are rotated from the bench onto the court during the normal flow of a game. To counter this, a starting line-up might be changed to give more balance to a team’s play and assist the second rotation so points are still able to be put on the board.

A starting line-up can also be varied to add a one-two punch to an offense or defence. Sometimes a tactical advantage can be drawn upon by wearing an opposition’s player or playing roster in a specific position so to exploit a weakness or just fatigue an individual. An example of this might be because an opposition has a weakness in a particular playing position. This might mean they do not have a suitable player to fill this role or maybe have only on competitive player, with the second player being rotated in not able to meet the standard of the competition. Therefore, to exploit this situation a coach might change the starting line-up so the primary player for this position is rotated in second and therefore faces off against the weaker player in the oppositions rotation. As the game progresses, the primary player might play more and more minutes so as the opposition’s player becomes fatigued they have to play against the primary player more and more.

Another reason to change a starting line-up strategically is to stack a playing position against an opposition player. This strategy is often used in regards to defending a particularly strong offensive opposition player. It is a tactic used where players maybe from other positions are placed against the strong offensive player in an attempt to stifle this player’s style of play, possession or other strength. This is only effective though where the players moved into this rotation have something to offer in defending the opposition player.

Changing a starting line-up can be a very good tactic but there are some times when a strategy will not work out. In these instances, a coach must be flexible and aware enough to change back quickly and limit the negative impact.